EPL News May 21st

[dmmd98]

Real Madrid are confident of landing Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso for £23m if Florentino Perez is appointed president again. (The Sun)

Source aside, everyone knows I think highly of Xabi Alonso but 23 million is 23 million. You do the deal if such a bid ever becomes reality.

Inter Milan are preparing a double-swoop for Chelsea duo Ricardo Carvalho and Jon Mikel Obi and hope to land the pair for £21m. (Daily Express)

Not nearly as high on Jon Obi Mikel as I am on Xabi Alonso but he’d be wise to read the tea levees and realizes he is never going to over take Michael Essien in the Chelsea setup.

Meanwhile Chelsea are confident they can hold off the advances of Barcelona and tie left-back Ashley Cole to a new deal.
(The Guardian)

We all know Ashley Cole isn’t oppose to switching teams over some extra cash.

Manchester United have been warned they face stiff competition to land Wigan winger Antonio Valencia. (The Sun)

I’m sure Manchester United would be worried how they would win a 4th straight EPL crown without Valencia in the lineup next season.

Aston Villa are prepared to lose £9m and let Gareth Barry run out the remainder of his contract, rather than sell him to a Premier League rival. (The Sun)

I understood the message Martin O’Neill was trying to send last year in not moving Gareth Barry. You don’t want to send a message to the rest of the top four teams that they can pick off your best players at will. A year later however Aston Villa should do business for Barry and strengthen themselves in other areas.

Liverpool are preparing a £10m bid for Portsmouth right-back Glen Johnson. (Daily Star)

However, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez may be prepared to pay as much as £15m for the Portsmouth man.
(Daily Mail)

Despite Portsmouth season you’d be hard press to find many right backs who played better than Glen Johnson this year. Must admit never quite saw this one coming after being a defensive nightmare with Chelsea.

Wheater is wanted by Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill who is hopeful of landing the centre-back for £7m. (Daily Star)

See, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Martin O’Neill used that Barry money on David Wheater for example.

Chelsea are leading the chase for Wolfsburg’s £6m-rated striker Edin Dzeko. (Daily Mirror)

Something wrong in this world when Dzeko worth is only 6 million according to the Daily Mirror yet Blackburn rates Santa Cruz at 20 million.

Celtic want David Moyes to become their new manager next season. (The Sun)

Despite being Scottish, David Moyes would be a fool at this point taking over Celtic. Currently he is one of the few coaches who has support at the board level. At Everton he is left to run the club as he sees fit. Despite winning the SPL for the last three years Celtic fans have never warmed up to Gordan Strachan since he took over from Martin O’Neill in 2005.

[rjordan1979]

I agree wholeheartedly on the Glen Johnson comment....he's come a long way from stealing toilets and being terrible for Chelsea.

Are Barca giving up on Eric Abidal already? I like that kid.

LOL at Mikel. He would have gotten a better shot with United.